We're a nation guilty of hoarding plastic carrier bags, and even after the 5p charge was enforced, shoppers still frequently neglected the 10p bag for life option. Other shoppers, like us, opted for the bag for life every single time and always forgot it lived in the bottomless pit of our handbags.

Britain’s biggest supermarket, Tesco, has become the first supermarket to scrap its single use 5p carrier bags.

This means shoppers will be forced to pay 10p if they forget to bring one with them.

Now only 10p “Bags for Life” are dished out at checkouts following successful trials in Aberdeen, Dundee and Norwich where usage was slashed by 25 per cent.

Since free bags were axed in supermarkets in England in 2015, 1.5 billion fewer bags have been doled out by Tesco.

But it still sells 700 million single use bags a year - 13 and half times more than the 51 million bags bought at Sainsbury’s reports The Mirror.

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“For too long we’ve seen plastic as something to be used once and thrown away. But there is no such place as ‘away’ - and millions of tonnes of plastic are ending up in our rivers, beaches, streets and in the sea every year, harming marine life.

“The plastic bag charge has done wonders for reducing the number of bags polluting our coastlines and waters.”

Shoppers will be forced to pay 10p for a 'bag for life' (Image: PA)

Who gets the cash?

Around 4p from the sale of each of the stronger plastic Bags for Life will go to good causes with the remaining 6p eaten up by costs of production and tax.

A Tesco spokesman said: “All proceeds will go to charity.”

Environment Minister Therese Coffey said carrier bag use had plummeted by 85 per cent since the 5p tax hit shoppers in 2015.

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She added: “I welcome Tesco wanting to go further and help their customers use even fewer plastic bags. The switch to a Bag for Life will continue to help reduce litter and boost recycling – helping to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.”

The Bags for Life are made from 94 per cent recycled plastic and Tesco has pledged to replace them for free if they are damaged.